Nov 12, 2020

How the election will impact the hospital industry

How the election will impact the hospital industry Featuring Brandon Edwards of Revive

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Resources

Takeaways

COVID-19 predications

  • By the end of January, we could be seeing 2,000 to 2,500 deaths a day in the United States.
  • There is a concern that the surge will continue to erode volumes in elective surgeries right so that preventative care elective procedures.
  • Typically, providers see a surge in surgical volume in Q4, which seems extremely unlikely this year.
  • Inpatient surgical procedures are down 18.6% from last year.

How the election will impact the hospital sector

  • The financial devastation that hospitals and health systems are facing will continue, even if theirs is a second stimulus package approved. 
  • Whether the new stimulus bills flow directly to hospitals or to consumers who then have money for discretionary spending ­– both of those will be helpful.
  • But just like the first round of the CARES Act, the second bill will not be enough to close the financial gap for hospitals.
  • Ultimately the message for marketers and hospital executives is like the saying about how “God helps those who help themselves”, and the stimulus is not going to save us from a terrible financial year. 
  • In the payor space, people are not going from commercial to uninsured; they’re going from retail to Medicaid.

Critical areas health systems need to be thinking about

  • A new competition is that of the top of the funnel – i.e., CVS or Humana rolling out clinics, or even Walmart Health and Optum.
  • The top of the funnel may not be high dollar services, but it has a tremendous influence on where those patients go for all of their other services. 
  • Hospitals have to be a lot better at engaging consumers by delivering care on their terms. 
  • Guiding principle: Offer quick services to people for something they need to do and removes barriers wherever possible.